Uther is Done
by valeriange
Summary: "You must complete this quest by dawn on the morrow," Uther surmised, "and you must do it alone." "Of course, Father," said Arthur, in the same breath he said, "Let's get going, Merlin." Uther knew Arthur was hopelessly in love with Merlin.


It started out just painful, watching the pining. Arthur, despite his age, still handled the object of his affections the same way he did at eight years old – by pushing them around and feeding happily off the attention it got him. Uther supposed a dearth of role models, affectionate and otherwise, were to blame for this issue, but he never paid much mind to fixing it. Arthur didn't need to be pleasant or charming; all he had to do was marry a princess he didn't know from a kingdom he'd never been to and secure an alliance. That didn't require romantic tact.

But then – _Merlin_.

It was mostly Uther's fault.

After the night at the banquet, when Merlin saved Arthur's life, Uther was delighted. He saw an honest young boy standing before him, a relative to Gaius, his most trusted court physician and – he supposed – friend. If some of this boy's humility and goodness could rub off on Arthur, he would be a fantastic king indeed. All Uther had to do was force them to spend time with each other.

The banquet hadn't been over for two minutes when Gaius came over to him, still draped in his nice robes, and a drink was still in Uther's hand. "This is a terrible idea, sire," he said.

Uther just chuckled. "Gaius, why would you say such a thing? Look at your nephew – he's a wonderful young boy! It would be good for Arthur to be around someone like that."

Gaius's eyebrow raised in that way only Gaius could do, and Uther felt like he was fifteen again and being scolded for doing something horribly reckless.

"It will be perfectly fine, Gaius," Uther said, clapping him on the shoulder.

It was not perfectly fine.

There was not another moment of peace in the castle following that day. Uther couldn't walk into the kitchens without hearing Merlin saying, "And then, Rebecca, he told me to clean the stables. Can you believe that?" He couldn't walk down the hall without hearing a knight saying, "Did you see Merlin trip Arthur at training today? Taught him a right lesson, he did!" He couldn't visit Arthur without hearing "Merlin this" and "Merlin that". He couldn't complain to Gaius without Merlin being right beside the old man doing the same thing about Arthur. Nowhere was safe anymore.

Uther lost his patience at dinner one night. He had been attempting to coerce Arthur into a conversation about trade with Mercia, but then Merlin made a snide comment, and Arthur rebutted, and now somehow Arthur and Merlin were going back and forth about laundry and baths and if it were anyone else, Uther would have said, "Take your married-couple arguments to your rooms, please."

"Arthur!" he thundered, and silence fell over the table at once. "I would like to have one talk with you without your servant being the main topic of discussion!"

Merlin's mouth fell open in what Uther thought was horrified shock. After all, if Uther became too mad, he could order his head hacked off. But then Merlin turned and gave Arthur a beaming grin and said, "You talk to your father about me?"

Arthur threw a red cloth at him. "Go start my baths."

"Of course, sire," Merlin drawled, and strode out of the room.

The doors hadn't even shut behind him before Arthur turned on Uther. "Why would you say that?" he demanded. "Do you like making a game out of embarrassing me in front of my manservant?"

Morgana, who had been idly poking at her dinner, said, "He's just your manservant, Arthur. Why do you care so much?"

"Because I'm around him all the time!" Arthur said. He looked back to the king. "You realize he won't cease talking about this for weeks, right? I will never hear the end of it!"

"So tell him to shut up," said Uther. "He's your servant."

Morgana scoffed. "He can't do that; Merlin will respond with an insult twice as good."

"Why would you allow him to speak to you in such a way?" Uther asked.

Arthur pointed an accusing finger at Uther. "This is not a discussion about how I treat my own servant. You were so insistent about talking about anything but him. Shouldn't you be changing the subject now?"

"Don't do it," Morgana told Uther, "it's what he wants."

Arthur stood up abruptly, the chair legs screeching against the floor. "I'm going to my room," he said.

"Good idea," Morgana replied. "You wouldn't want to keep Merlin waiting."

And so Uther was left alone with a grinning Morgana, a blushing Gwen, and the awful feeling that he had missed something astoundingly obvious.

So, apparently, he missed something astoundingly obvious to everyone but him.

He called the prince and some of his most trusted knights in to evaluate potential weaknesses along their border with Mercia. It was a meeting that required intense knowledge of the political climate between their nations, current forces placed along the border, and military strategy. So, of course, Arthur brought Merlin. Every other minute, Uther was on the verge of snapping his fingers in front of Arthur's face to bluntly remind him he should be looking at the map, or the knight speaking, and not his silent manservant.

When Uther called the meeting to a close, Sir Bennett stayed behind. Most of the knights departed toward the training grounds, and Uther thought Arthur would have followed them, but he and Merlin were conversing animatedly as they climbed up the stairs toward Arthur's room. Sir Bennett had a quiet smile on his face as he watched them.

Uther scoffed at his expression. "Surely you can't be so dismissive of them," Uther said. "Arthur was downright disrespectful through this meeting. That boy is becoming a distraction."

"Perhaps it's the romantic in me, sire, but I think it's quite nice," said Bennett.

Uther's brow furrowed.

Bennett elaborated, "None of the knights thought Arthur would ever – ah – _take up_ with someone. He's always been so crude and brash and loud. But then Merlin came along, and Merlin doesn't tolerate any of that; whatever Arthur puts out, he can throw right back at him. They match each other evenly. It's… Well, to be honest, sire, I never thought Arthur would find anyone like that."

Uther drawled, "You think Arthur… _cares_ for this boy."

Bennett's cheeks reddened slightly. "It's a bit obvious to the knights, sire. Arthur doesn't go anywhere without him; he doesn't have to ask, Merlin just goes. And they – er – look at each other, at lot."

"So you think that because Merlin accompanies his master," said Uther, "and Arthur looks out for his manservant that they are – what? – in love?"

"Well, no, not really."

Uther breathed a sigh of relief.

"Most of us think it because Finian caught them going at it like rabbits in the armory."

Uther summoned Arthur early one morning, before the sun had risen. Arthur stumbled into the hall, Merlin walking close behind him. Uther didn't care, right now. He was too tired, and too stressed, and he already had the words prepared on his tongue.

"I need you to ride out straight away," Uther said, as soon as Arthur was in speaking distance. His words resonated through the empty hall.

Arthur looked a lot more awake. "What are you talking about?"

Sir Bennett stepped around Uther and said, "We believe we have found a nest of gryphons. Our knights in Halford were able to slaughter two, but one retreated back into its nest. We lost two knights trying to penetrate its defenses."

Uther told him, "You are the best knight in the kingdom, Arthur. I trust that you can handle this, can't you?"

Arthur straightened. "Of course, sire."

"Good." Uther nodded. "Every hour we waste is another hour the gryphon spends recover from what wounds our knights managed to deal. When you return, victorious, this victory will belong to you and you alone, an honor to the Pendragon name. You must complete this quest by dawn on the morrow," Uther surmised, "and you must do it _alone_."

"Of course, Father," said Arthur, in the same breath he said, "Let's get going, Merlin."

Arthur did not return the next morning.

Gaius had managed to keep Merlin busy for the rest of the day following Arthur's lone departure, but he eventually ran out of needless tasks to busy Merlin with to keep him away from his nervous thoughts. Uther saw Merlin standing near the gates of the courtyard an hour after dusk, his hands wringing anxiously in front of him. He thought about commenting on Arthur's incredible prowess, how he certainly would return at any moment with the head of a gryphon in tow, but he found that the words died on his tongue. Cold fear strangled his heart.

From the comfort of his rooms, he kept watch over the courtyard as well. Merlin didn't leave until just before dawn light.

Uther decided to take Merlin from Gaius for the day. The least he could do for Arthur was try and whip his servant into shape. But Merlin's hands shook so hard that he dropped a tray, and his eyes fixed on something faraway and he missed the orders Uther gave him, and when Uther reprimanded him for not leaving after delivering Uther's lunch, Merlin just said, "Sorry. Arthur never has me leave."

That night, Uther did not keep to his rooms – he was far too anxious to sit on his windowsill and gaze into the courtyard. Instead, he wandered around the perimeter of the courtyard, listening for the faint squeal of the gate's hinges coming open. He spotted Merlin almost immediately, sitting beside a stack of boxes and facing the gates, fiddling with a piece of cloth. Merlin didn't spot him in the shadows of the halls.

When he finally heard the quiet cry of the gates, he thought he might have imagined it. But then he turned around and the sound of hooves on stone greeted his ears. And then he saw him.

Arthur sat astride a pale horse, not the dark chestnut he had set out on. His hair was covered in dust and dirt was smeared across his cheek. He was missing his armor and his sword, and one of his arms was wrapped in gauze above the elbow, but on the left side of his horse hung the mighty, bloodied head of a gryphon.

Uther didn't have time to move to greet him when he entered the courtyard, but it didn't matter, because Merlin was there to do so and Arthur was riding toward him anyway. Merlin met him at the center of the courtyard, offering his hand to help Arthur down and steady him on his feet. He saw them exchange rapid words, and Merlin breathe out a heavy sigh of relief.

Before Uther could move out of the shadows, he saw Arthur's good arm wrap around Merlin's back and the hand of his wounded arm rise to touch Merlin's cheek, and he pulled him in to a rough kiss. Merlin didn't seem to mind the state Arthur was in, because he kissed him right back. They stayed wrapped in each other embrace in the quiet, empty courtyard for what felt like an eternity to Uther, and he finally just turned away and trudged back up to his room. He could greet Arthur – and Merlin – in the morning.


End file.
